BALTIMORE: 2017: 75-87, fifth place.
MANAGER: Buck Showalter (ninth season).
ADDITIONS: RHP Alex Cobb, RHP Andrew Cashner, OF Colby Rasmus, LHP Nestor Cortes Jr., C Andrew Susac, INF Engelb Vielma, OF Austin Hays.
SUBTRACTIONS: C Welington Castillo, SS J.J. Hardy, RHP Ubaldo Jimenez, LHP Wade Miley, RHP Jeremy Hellickson.
OUTLOOK: The Orioles were 25-16 and in first place last year before fading to their first losing season since 2011. The prospect for improvement will rest on a power-laden lineup that needs Davis and Trumbo to rebound from poor performances, but both sluggers fought through injuries this spring and Trumbo will be on the disabled list on opening day. With a shaky rotation and a bullpen that is without injured closer Zach Britton, the Orioles must score plenty of runs to make some noise in the AL East. Baltimore's defense, usually a strong point, was not particularly efficient in 2017. The team addressed the problem by switching Machado to shortstop and working hard on fundamentals this spring. Most important, this could be the last season in Baltimore for Jones and Machado, whose contracts expire after 2018. If the Orioles are sputtering in July, the most intriguing aspect of the team might be whether one or both stars get jettisoned before the July 31 trade deadline.

NY YANKEES: 2017: 91-71, second place, wild card, lost to Houston in ALCS.
MANAGER: Aaron Boone (first season).
ADDITIONS: OF Giancarlo Stanton, 2B Neil Walker, 3B Brandon Drury.
SUBTRACTIONS: Manager Joe Girardi, 2B Starlin Castro, 3B-1B Chase Headley, 3B Todd Frazier, DH Matt Holliday, LHP Jaime Garcia.
OUTLOOK: New York figures to score a lot and strike out a lot, a reason the Yankees signed the switch-hitting, high-contact Walker during spring training. Drury also was a late addition, enabling New York to start prospects Gleyber Torres and Miguel Andujar in the minors. Betances faded in the second half last season, struggling with his mechanics and control and diminishing from a four-time All-Star to a mop-up man. After a pair of injury-decimated seasons, Bird is being counted on as a left-handed power bat in the middle of the batting order who can prevent opponents from bringing in right-handed relievers to attack Judge, Stanton and Sanchez. Hicks missed nearly half of last season with oblique injuries but has displaced Jacoby Ellsbury as the regular center fielder. Having never managed or coached at any level, Boone succeeded Girardi and must establish with players and the public that he knows what he is doing.

PREVIEW

Yankees host Orioles, turn attention toward wild card

NEW YORK -- The American League East race is officially over and the New York Yankees can turn their focus toward more pressing matters.

Among them are securing home-field advantage in the wild-card game over the hard-charging Oakland Athletics and starting to get Giancarlo Stanton back on track.

The Yankees get a chance to do both Friday night when they host the Baltimore Orioles in the opener of a three-game series.

New York (93-59) enters the series with a 1 1/2 game lead over Oakland for home field in the wild-card game Oct. 3. The Yankees last held first place July 1 and were officially eliminated with Thursday's 11-6 loss to the Boston Red Sox.

"This stings a little bit; we also feel like we've gotten our guys back," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said while alluding to the recent returns of Aaron Judge, Aroldis Chapman, Didi Gregorius and Gary Sanchez from the disabled list. "We feel like we're in position to hopefully take off and really start playing well and we'll have that expectation and intention going into tomorrow."

While Oakland is a major-league best 58-25 since June 15, the Yankees are 48-38 in the same period. They also are 39-32 since last holding first place July 1 and 10-12 since their last meeting with Baltimore on Aug. 26 in Camden Yards.

"We just want to play well," Boone said. "Obviously over the last whatever we've been a little bit up and down and kind of fighting to get healthy and kind of fighting to get healthy and just not as consistent as we've wanted to be."

One positive for the Yankees was Giancarlo Stanton hitting a grand slam to provide a short-term 6-4 lead Thursday. Stanton is 9-for-62 in 16 games this month and before the division was officially decided, Boone said he thought the slugger's timing was off.

"That's what he's really battling to find that good timing and when he does, and I believe he will then it gets really impactful," Boone said.

Stanton's homer was New York's 247th of the season.

Luke Voit set the new record two innings earlier, breaking the team record previously achieved in 2012. He also is the 12th Yankee to reach double figures, which is a major league record.

The Orioles (44-108) will attempt to win consecutive game for the first time since Aug. 27-29 in a three-game sweep of Toronto and are 4-14 since.

Baltimore established the team record for losses with a 6-4 defeat to Toronto Tuesday but ensured it will not match the 2003 Detroit Tigers for the most losses in the AL by getting a 2-1 win on Wednesday.

"I was thinking about it tonight how many times I walked down that long hall to get here after a great win, trying to temper the enthusiasm," manager Buck Showalter said. "I still feel elated after we win a game and then I think about all the good things that went on, especially defensively tonight."

The Orioles remain three losses shy of the franchise mark set by the 1939 St. Louis Browns but Wednesday, rookie D.J. Stewart hit his first career homer.

Despite the record, the Orioles have done decently against the Yankees, especially in New York. While they are 6-10 in the season series, the Orioles are 4-2 at Yankee Stadium.

New York's CC Sabathia (7-7, 3.80 ERA) looks to halt his six-game winless skid when he starts Friday. Since allowing a hit in six scoreless innings Aug. 12 against Texas, Sabathia is 0-3 with a 6.35 ERA. He looks to rebound from an awful outing in last Saturday's 8-7 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays when he allowed five runs on seven hits in 2 1/3 innings, his shortest start since May 23, 2015.

The left-hander is 19-11 with a 4.14 ERA in 44 career starts against Baltimore. If he wins Friday, Sabathia will own at least 20 victories over four teams (also Detroit, Kansas City and Minnesota).

He is winless in his last 10 starts against Baltimore since May 4, 2016, including 0-1 with a 6.00 ERA in three starts this season.

Yefry Ramirez (1-6, 5.50 ERA) makes his 11th career start and 16th appearance with Baltimore. Ramirez is 1-6 with a 6.60 ERA as a starting pitcher after posting a 1.50 ERA in 12 innings as a reliever.

Ramirez's last start might have been his best. He returned to the rotation for the first time since Aug. 19 and in Saturday's 2-0 loss to the Chicago White Sox, he allowed one run on four hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Ramirez started against the Yankees on July 31 in New York when he allowed six runs on six hits in five innings of a 6-3 loss. He also pitched the final three innings of a 5-3 setback in Baltimore on Aug. 26 and allowed four runs in four innings on July 9 in Baltimore.

Ramirez is a former Yankee minor leaguer and was 10-3 with a 3.41 ERA in 18 starts for Double-A Trenton in 2017 before joining the Orioles.